A liquid crystal display device is used in various fields of OA equipments such as a personal computer and a television set, taking advantage of the features such as light weight, thin shape, and low power consumption. In recent years, the liquid crystal display device is used also as displays for a portable remote terminal such as a cellular phone and a PDA (personal digital assistant), a car navigation equipment, and a game machine.
Generally, the liquid crystal display panel in Fringe Field Switching (FFS) mode includes an array substrate equipped with a pixel electrode and a common electrode, a counter substrate and a liquid crystal layer held therebetween. In the FFS mode, alignment of liquid crystal molecules is controlled using the fringe electric field formed between the pixel electrode and the common electrode.
Technology for arranging a dummy pixel in a non-display area covered with a shield layer is proposed as an example in the FFS mode. While the structure of the dummy pixel is substantially the same as the pixel in a display area, the dummy pixel is constituted so that electric field may not be impressed to the liquid crystal layer. The dummy pixel is used in order to form a protection device against static electricity which invades from the outside.